La Reine des Reines
by Lisa Harkema
She was the undisputed queen, not only of France but the whole world trotting. In fact, she was so superior that she was excluded from the betting in her 1967 Elitlopp elimination! Roquepine won races all over the world, at every track, distance and position. To top it off, she then gave birth to possibly the most influential stallion in French trotting history, Florestan.
Roquepine, bred by Henri Levesque and foaled on April 8, 1961, comes from one of the top maternal families in France. The breeder had high expectations, and for good reason. Several years prior he had identified the diminutive (155 cms/ 15,1 hands) Sa Bourbonnaise as an ideal broodmare and bought two of her daughters, Jalna IV and Glamour II. Sa Bourbonnaise was one of the golden broodmares in the history of French trotting, and also winner of 1944 Criterium des 4 ans, the 1945 Criterium des 5 ans and third in the 1947 Prix d’Amerique. She then quickly proved her worth in the breeding shed. Her third foal, and first son, was Hermes D, by Kairos, who proved a very good stallion from 1957 to 1974. Her fourth foal, the mare Infante II, by Hernani III, was the first French female sub-1.15 (2:00.4) trotter with three top-5 finishes in the Prix d’Amerique, and later produced Sabi Pas, sire of Carioca II.
Levesque did not stress his headstrong filly too much as a youngster and started her career relatively slowly. Not making her debut until she was 3, she did manage a second place in the monte (RUS) Group I-race Prix de Vincennes that year, ridden by Francois Brohier. He reported back to Levesque that the filly didn’t really tolerate a rider and should be switched back to sulky races.
Teaming up with the person he felt ideal to handle his fickle and temperamental filly, Levesque handed the driving reigns over to Jean Rene Gougeon, while training her himself. The next year Roquepine established herself as the dominant horse in the crop, winning the Criterium des 4 ans, Criterium Continental, Prix Octave Douesnel, Prix Guy le Gonidec and Prix Marcel Laurent. By doing so she also made herself the favorite for the upcoming Prix d’Amerique.